Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

• Prisons VisitedPlease note that in some cases, there is more thanone facility for juveniles in one complex. For example,Westville Youth Centre has sections for sentenced andunsentenced male and female children. The prisonsvisited were as follows:Barberton Juvenile PrisonBarberton Juvenile Prison is situated in 'beautifulmountainous surroundings' just outside the town ofBarberton in Mpumalanga. The juvenile prison is .completely separate. The adult and maximum prisonsare on a farm some distance away.The prison building is very old and used to accommodateprisoners who worked in the stone quarrymany decades ago. Much of the stone has been usedin the construction of the prison. Although old andshabby, the prison is fairly clean and well-maintained.Efforts have been made to 'brighten up' the class;rooms and workshops.The visit took place on 9 April 1997.Boksburg PrisonBoksburg is a fairly large prison built outside thetown of Boksburg on the East Rand. Juveniles areaccommodated in what was previously the hospitalsection, which is discrete from the main body of theprison.The visit took place on 20 March 1997.Brandvlei PrisonBrandvlei Prison is outside the town of Worcester inthe Western Cape. It has a separate youth section. Ithas a dedicated staff who deal only with the juvenileprisoners. The school, too, caters only for juveniles.The visit took place on 11 June 1997